Singer Demi Lovato performs at We Day in Vancouver, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012.Jonathan Hayward
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Singer Demi Lovato performs at We Day in Vancouver, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012.Jonathan Hayward
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Singer Demi Lovato performs at We Day in Vancouver, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012.Jonathan Hayward
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Singer Demi Lovato performs at We Day in Vancouver, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012.Jonathan Hayward
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers arena in Vancouver, BC Thursdsay, October 18, 2012 to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is basketball great Magic Johnson.Jason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers Arena on Thursdsay, October 18, 2012 to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts.Jason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 - An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers arena to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is basketball great Magic Johnson.Jason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers Arena on Thursdsay, October 18, 2012 to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson onstage.Jason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers arena to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is Marc (right) and Craig KielburgerJason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers arena to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is Marc (left) and Craig KielburgerJason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 - An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers arena to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is basketball great Magic Johnson.Jason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers arena to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is Craig KielburgerJason Payne
/ PNG

Dancers perform at We Day on October 18, 2012Mackie Bryson-Bucci
/ Submitted

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers Arena to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts.Jason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers arena to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is Marc (left) and Craig KielburgerJason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers arena to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is Marc (left) and Craig KielburgerJason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers arena to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is Marc (left) and Craig KielburgerJason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers arena to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is Marc (left) and Craig KielburgerJason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 - An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers Arena on Thursdsay, October 18, 2012 to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts.Jason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers Arena on Thursdsay, October 18, 2012 to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical acts. Pictured is Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson onstage.Jason Payne
/ PNG

VANCOUVER, BC: OCTOBER 18, 2012 -- An estimated 20,000 school children packed Rogers Arena to take part in the fourth annual WE Day. The travelling event promotes tolerance and inspiration for youth, and includes inspirational speakers and musical actsJason Payne
/ PNG

Jesse Giddings speaks at WE Daychloewesth20
/ Instagram

NBA Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson speaks at We Day. "Work with everybody. Discrimination is not cool."@ChristineYH
/ Twitter

OneRepublic tweeted out a photo ahead of their We Day performance.OneRepublic
/ Twitter

A shot of Rogers Arena during We Day on October 18, 2012@edupaige
/ Twitter

Marc (dark shirt) and brother Craig Kielburger do a run through of their show Wednesday as they prepare for 20,000 students to converge on Rogers Arena on Thursday, to take part in the annual WE Day. They will talk about anti-bullying issues with the crowd.Jenelle Schneider, PNG
/ Vancouver Sun

A shot of Rogers Arena during We Day on October 18, 2012@h_escavage
/ Twitter

Related

VANCOUVER - “We’re going to change the world!” 20,000 young people roared Thursday in response to an impassioned plea from Magic Johnson for tolerance and compassion.

The five-time NBA champion, who has become an HIV/AIDS prevention advocate, was one of the keynote speakers at We Day, which drew students from Grades 1 to 12 to Rogers Arena to celebrate what individuals can do to improve the world.

Johnson said people can make use of their adversities, noting that when he became HIV-positive, fellow players did not want to share the basketball court with him.

He went public with his diagnosis and helped to bring the topic into the open.

“I was able to stop the discrimination against HIV ... so what I want you to take away from this is no matter what colour (your classmates) are, no matter if they look different from you, embrace them because discrimination and bullying are not cool,” said Johnson.

His talk came during a rollicking day of musical performances, speakers and videos, that ran from 9:30 a.m. until about 2 p.m. and focused on community engagement and social awareness.

The speakers included Craig and Marc Kielburger, co-founders of Free the Children, the Canada-based global charity behind We Day.

“Each and every one of you out there, you’re the leaders,” said Craig, 29. Free the Children’s signature event, one of eight across the country each year, Thursday’s event included rock concert-like lighting, massive TV screens and flashing stage sets.

Craig Kielburger said earlier that the event’s theme of bullying had been chosen before Port Coquitlam’s Amanda Todd committed suicide after years of cyber-bullying. The death of the 15-year-old last week gave it extra poignancy, he said.

Guests at the event, from American pop singer Demi Lovato to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, touched on anti-bullying themes. Todd had been planning on having the words ‘Stay Strong’ tattooed on her arm, the same motto inked on the wrist of her role model Lovato, an anti-bullying advocate.

“Bullying is a very serious issue. People end up taking their lives because of it,” Lovato said before her performance Thursday.

She sees girls like Todd as particularly vulnerable, “because they’re at an age when their bodies are changing ... they’re coming into themselves, but also ... middle school, high school is a really hard time to make it through and rise above things.”

The public derision and shame that often comes with cyber-bullying has prompted Lovato, who suffered from self-esteem issues as a teenager, to view social media with mixed emotions: “Sometimes I think it’s more a curse than it is a blessing,” she said.

“It’s embarrassing enough to get bullied in person, but then when it’s out in front of the entire world, online on your Twitter and Facebook, everyone sees it.”

Lovato’s words struck a chord with Cassidy Roder and Bridgette Ferrara, high school students at St. Thomas More Collegiate in New Westminster.

“I think she had a good story and it was easy to relate to....,” said Roder.

Ferrara added: “It was nice to hear that she made it through her tough time, and that she’s there for us.”

Tutu told the crowd that words can hurt as much as physical oppression.

“Language is very important,” he said, recalling his struggles in apartheid South Africa. “Language can make you feel like a non-entity.”

At the end of the interview, Tutu did a little dance with Grammy-Award winning singer Angelique Kidjo, as thousands of students twirled electric “lite” bracelets throughout the darkened arena.

Harold Munro, editor-in-chief of The Vancouver Sun, spoke briefly to the crowd about the power of narrative to effect change.

Referring to a special section of The Sun in students’ take-home tote bags, he said: “It’s full of stories about people like you with ... a passion for social justice.

“Newspapers have always informed people. I would urge you to read some of the stories and change the world.”

Marc Kielburger, 35, alluded to Mohandas Gandhi when he said: “Be the change ” calling those words “some of the most important ever spoken in the history of social justice.”

Other performers included OneRepublic, Cody Simpson and Shawn Desman, whose Nobody Does It Like You reaffirmed the Kielburgers’ message of individual empowerment.

To earn their seats at We Day each year, young people in Canada have helped raise $20 million for 500 causes and volunteered more than three million hours for local and global causes involving 5,700 schools since 2009, according to Free The Children’s website.

These efforts tied into campaigns to install water pumps and wells abroad, relieve hunger at home and raise awareness of aboriginal issues, child labour and oppression of women and girls.

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